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Group reaches out to hungry

WAYNESFIELD — In an economy that is still recovering from the recession, some are still struggling to get by. For many of these people, the opportunity to save money through a free weekly meal would be a welcome convenience.

This sentiment is shared by Sue Uncapher, who decided to establish the Harvest of Hope, a free weekly meal at Waynesfield United Methodist Church.

Six years ago, Uncapher and another church member got together and decided that they wanted to do something to give back to the community.

“At that time, I think the economy was starting to take a downtown and we thought that there’s gotta be people in this community who are really struggling,” Uncapher said. “We thought it would save them that much more money because it’s one less meal they have to fix.”

Since it’s inception, Uncapher said the weekly meal has been very well received by the community. Around 50 people come in per week on average, she said, and the most they’ve ever had in one night was around 75 people.

Harvest of Hope welcomes anyone to attend, and Uncapher said that they will have people travel from as far as Lakeview to take advantage of the free meal.

Although many people come for the meal because of the money they’ll save, Uncapher said that she was surprised at how many people come simply to enjoy eating a meal with other members of the community.

“We have found that it’s more of a blessing to the people who come here and enjoy someone else’s company so that they don’t have to eat alone,” she said.

For the full story, see the Thursday, Jan. 23 edition of the Wapakoneta Daily News.